MLB had to spend $1.2 million to secure Rockies.com

Until recently when you typed in Rockies.com into a browser, it sent you to a website built specifically to promote the Canadian Rockies. Which makes perfect sense, we guess.

But if you were a Colorado Rockies fan or even looking for stats or information on the Rockies, it didn’t make sense that when you typed in the name of the team you went to a website that had nothing to do with the them.

All that changed when Venture Capital Group announced that they would auction off Rockies.com. And predictably Major League Baseball swooped in and won the rights to the domain. But at a price much steeper than expected.

Major League Baseball has paid a record $1.2 million to secure the domain name Rockies.com from the Canadian tourism portal Tourism Canadian Rockies. The sale was brokered by Venture Capital Group, which announced the sale was the largest for a sports domain transaction.

Venture Capital announced last fall that the Rockies.com domain name, which had belonged to the Website that fittingly promoted the Rocky Mountains, would be put up for auction along with several other Canadian tourism web assets. The auction was expected to garner between $200,000 and $400,000 for the Website, industry expert Domain News Wire reported in late September.

After securing Rockies.com, MLB now controls the domains of all except four of their team’s names. Left to secure are Giants.com which is owned by the NFL team, Rays.com which is owned by a Seattle restaurant, Rangers.com which is owned by web development company called Future Media Architects, and Twins.com which is owned by a company called D&D Miller.

And which of these is most likely ready and willing to sell? Definitely Twins.com since it is currently a blank webpage.